Mass Effect: Infestation
HARDSUIT ID: Weathers, E 4021-35971 DATE: 10-21-2185 TIME: 03:41 am VITAL SIGNS: Moderately Unstable Edgar Weathers wakes up at the bottom of an air shaft. His head pulsates with pain as he slowly re-enters consciousness. His vision is blurred, further obscuring the already dark surroundings. He hears only the sounds of steam chutes as he lifts himself to his feet, his legs weakened from exhaustion. He glances at the built-in time piece on his hardsuit's gauntlet and is able to make out the time, 03:42. Edgar stumbles down a converging tunnel which is filled with steam. Edgar's memory is spotted but he manages to remember terrible, blood-curdling screams. Edgar also manages to muster the memory of where he is, the cooling shafts; if he kept following the pipelines, he would eventually find his way to the reactor room. He is still confused about exactly what ship or space station the reactor system was part of, but it didn't matter; he was being driven by an innate and powerful survival instinct -- Edgar was afraid for his life and didn't remember why. After making his way through the dark and steam-filled shafts, Edgar notices something. On one of the walls, a decayed label reading SSV Kennedy property of Systems Alliance. That's when he remembers joining the crew of the SSV Kennedy a day before it's maiden voyage. He also remembers the CO, Captain Leonardo DeMarco. He figures he'd better hurry and report to the captain before getting into trouble, after all there must've been some sort of accident for him to appear unconscious in an area of the ship where he wasn't even authorized to be. Edgar continues until he finally reaches a small air vent leading into the reactor room. He rips the covering off and is surprised when a dead body falls out directly in front of him. The skin of the corpse is blue and peeling and it's eyes are glassed over like two large marbles. The stiff cadaver has been bled dry with only black gashes remaining where large lacerations once existed. Edgar studies the mangled body and takes the dog tag still hanging around the bodies neck. Apparently, the corpse used to be Nathan Reynolds, a young marine. Another memory flashes in Edgar's head of him welcoming young marines aboard the Kennedy, Reynolds being one of them. Edgar tightly grips the tag in his fist; something was very wrong here. He shuffles through the small but short vent and tumbles out into the reactor room. The reactor is shut off and dark without even a faint glow, meaning that it had to have been disabled for atleast six hours. Examining the room for a moment, Edgar notices signs of a struggle. Scorch marks from bullets and deep scratches strewn across the walls. Puddles of blood soaked the ground and a few chunks of flesh were scattered across the metal floor, covered by some sort of strange mucus. Edgar hears something, faint crunching and slurping sounds. He cuts his helmet-mounted flashlight on and looks up, seeing a horrendous sight. A horrendously disfigured creature of some sort hangs upside-down with a human corpse, devouring the entrails and bones of the mutilated body up until realizing that a flashlight was glaring on it's mucus-covered flesh. The monster lifts it's head from the gut of the corpse and stares Edgar directly in the face before dropping the corpse and letting out a high-pitched shriek, terrifying enough to make Edgar's spine shiver. Edgar's first instinct is to run as fast as possible from the creature. As he turns his back, he can hear the creature drop to the floor just a few feet behind him and let out a series of disheartening yelps. His heart races as he runs through the nearest corridor, hearing the creatures feet rapidly galloping on the metal floor as it gets closer and closer to Edgar. Just as he is less than four feet away from the door at the end of the corridor, he feels something latch onto his back and slam him to the floor. Edgar throws an elbow, feeling it collide with the creatures head and throws another to knock the demon back. The monster quickly rebounds and uses it's sharp claws to try digging out Edgar's eyes, a futile attempt as Edgar's visor and mask protect him but sustain terrible scratches. Edgar continues this fight for nearly three minutes, all of which seem like hours as the strong and ravenous thing claws and bites at Edgar's armor. Edgar eventually grew far too tired to continue the fight and just as his muscles began to give out, the door opened. The creature quickly stopped attacking and turned it's attention upward for less than a second before it's head exploded and it's limp body flew backward atleast ten feet. Edgar looks upward at the ceiling of the corridor when a face, mostly hidden by a helmet and visor peers downward at him. The face disappears but Edgar feels something pulling him beyond the door into a dimly-lit room. The door quickly closes as Edgar's entire body passes through the doorway but he passes out from shock before he can even say "thank you" to his savior. HARDSUIT ID: Weathers, E 4021-35971 DATE: 10-21-2185 TIME: 04:26 VITAL SIGNS: Moderately Stable Edgar wakes up less than an hour later on a table, his helmet removed from his head. His vision is only slightly blurred but he blinks his vision back to normalcy. He turns his head to see a woman leaning back in a chair who, leans inward toward him. "He's awake," says the woman. It isn't long until three others walk over to Edgar's side, all with an expression seeming to be made up of happiness and surprise. As he looked at them, his memory began to rush back. The people that peered into his face were Malcolm Brown, Lars Dunn, Adam Riches, and Lisa Proud -- all members of the fireteam he commands. He remembers fighting against more of the same monsters early alongside his squad and a ground-shaking rumble but his memory fades after that. "I can't believe you made it! We thought you were dead," says Lars excitedly. Edgar leans upward and takes a couple glances around the room. "We're trapped in the mess hall," says Malcolm.